Textile apparatus



Jam. 22, 1963 J. P. KIERONSKI 3,074,605

TEXTILE APPARATUS Filed March 21. 1960 INVENTOR. JOHN P KIERONSKI W SMATTORNEY United States Fatcnt U chusetts Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Ser. No.16,575 1 Claim. (Cl. 226-11) The present invention relates to a textilemachine and more particularly relates to a device for rendering a feedroller advancing a winding strand of yarn inoperative when the strandbeing advanced thereby breaks or the supply thereto becomes exhausted.

It is frequently necessary when processing yarn to withdraw it from asupply thereof and advance it through the processing apparatus underconstant, uniform tension and speed. In order to achieve this, one ormore positively driven feed rollers are employed to engage and advancethe strand at a uniform rate of speed.

A difiiculty encountered in the use of feed rollers is that the feedrollers often will continue to withdraw yarn from the supply after abreak occurs in the running strand at a point beyond the feed roller.This leads to the undesirable result of the strand becoming entangled inthe feed roller and its driving mechanism, resulting in the waste ofyarn and frequently in damage to the machinery.

It may also occur that the supply of yarn to a positively driven feedroller will become exhausted. Unless some means is provided to arrestthe action of the feed roller it will continue to operate until it canbe manually stopped thereby resulting in unnecessary wear on the rollerand its driving mechanisms.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide adevice which will render a positively driven feed roller inoperativewhen a break occurs in a strand of yarn being fed thereby.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device forpreventing a broken strand of yarn engaged by a positively driven feedroller from being fed from a supply package associated with said strand.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device whichwill render the yarn feed roller inoperative upon exhaustion of thesupply of yarn thereto.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device forrendering a yarn feed roller inoperative by disengageing its drivingmechanism when the strand being fed by the roller breaks or isexhausted.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device adaptedto engage a running strand of yarn for rendering a yarn feed rolleradvancing said yarn inoperative by disengageing its driving mechanismwhen the strand breaks or is exhausted, said device being provided witha counterweight to control the pressure thereof on the running strand ofyarn.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a yarn feed rollerstop motion device which is inexpensive to manufacture and durable andreliable in use.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing theconstruction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which areexemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the feed roller disengaging means of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a positively driven feed roller embodyingthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation taken along lines III-Hl of FIG. 2 with partsin section;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating the feed rolldisengaging means immediately after the strand of yarn has broken; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the feed rollerdisengaged from its driving mechanism.

Referring now to the drawing wherein there is disclosed a preferredembodiment of the present invention. While the present invention can beadapted to various winding machines that are commercially available itis described, for convenience, in connection with a machine of the typefully disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,899,796, issued August 18,1959, to D. G. Sousslolf et al. The operation of the yarn roller and itsdriving means are fully disclosed in said Patent No. 2,899,796.Therefore, only so much of it as is necessary to a completeunderstanding will be described herein.

A horizontal drive shaft 10, suitably journaled for rotation at aconstant speed on a winding machine is connected to a power source (notshown) to provide clockwise rotation to said shaft. The power source maybe a separate motor or it may be the same power source which operatesthe machine. Fast on shaft 10 is a drive gear 12 having its hub securedfast to shaft 10 by suitable means such as set screw 16. I Extendingparallel with shaft 10 and forwardly thereof, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and5, is a shaft 18 suitably mounted on the frame of the winding machine.Shaft 18 supports a bell-crank 20 for pivotal movement thereon. Thelonger arm 22 of bell-crank 20 carries a stub shaft 24 which rotatablymounts a spur gear 26 and a yarn roller 28. Spur gear 26 and yarn roller28, integrally formed to rotate as a unit, are mounted on bell-crank 20in a manner whereby spur gear 26 will mesh with driver gear 12 whenbell-crank 20 is pivoted to the rear but clearance will exist betweenyarn roller 28 and driver gear 12 when bellcrank 20 is in its rearwardposition.

Disposed beneath shaft 18 is a horizontal rod 19 which serves as a stopto be engaged by shorter arm 32 of hellcrank 20 to thereby retain yarnroller 28 in its forward position, as shown in FIG. 5.

The longer arm 22 of bell-crank 20 supports a laterally extending stud34 midway therealong. Stud 34 is fixed in arm 22 by means of a nut 36threadedly engaged with said stud. A comb-like member 38 is mounted onthe outer end of stud 34 to be disposed in alignment with yarn roller28. Stud 34 also provides a support for the yarn roller arrestingelement generally indicated by numeral 30.

Element 30 is preferably constructed of a single length of resilient,round wire or rod bent to the desired form. A support section 40,comprised of loops of wire coiled about stud 34, is positioned betweenarm 22 and comblike member 38 for rotatable movement on said stud 34. Anarcuate leg 42 having a conformation corresponding substantially to thecircumference of gear 26 extends rearwardly from support section 40 tobe normally spaced upwardly of said gear 26 in vertical alignment withgear 12. Leg 42 terminates in a short rearward bend 44 adapted to engagewith gear 12 in a manner to be more completely described hereinafter.

Extending forwardly from support 40 is a length 46 having a right angle48 inserted therein to direct a portion 50 toward and over arm 22. AU-shaped reverse bend 52 is inserted in portion 50 to direct portion 54parallel to and above portion 50. A second right-angled turn 55 isinserted in portion 54 to direct a run 56 parallel to and above length46. A reentrant opening is thereby provided at 58. An upwardly directedarm 60 is bent in run 56 and, in turn, the terminal portion of run 60 isbent to the side to form a bail 62 for engaging a strand of auras-9e asyarn Y. So formed, bail 62 is in alignment with yarn roller 28 as seenin FIG. 2.

A screw 64 and nut 66 are positioned for adjustable movement alongopening 58 to provide a counterweight for leg 42 when bail 62 is in itsoperative position contacting a running strand of yarn.

The above described apparatus operates in the following manner. Withstrand of yarn Y being drawn from a suitable supply, not shown, saidstrand Y is passed about yarn roller 28 and comb-like member 38 severaltimes, with each pass of yarn being laid in a difierent groove of member38. Strand Y is then passed upwardly of roller 28 to suitable processingor take-up means. With the apparatus so threaded, bell-crank 20 isrotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, to mesh gears 12 and26. It will be apparent that yarn roller 28 will be caused to rotate ata constant peripheral speed when gears 12 and 26 are in mesh androtation is imparted to shaft 10. As bell-crank 20 is movedcounterclockwise bail 62 will be pivoted into the path of strand Y tocontact said strand on the output side of roller 28 as it is advanced byroller 28. Arm 42, in turn, will be held in a raised position radiallyof roller 23, as shown in FIG. 3. Leg 42 provides a sufficientover-balance to retain bail 62 in contact with strand Y. Preferably thepressure exerted by bail 62 on strand Y is controlled by adjusting screw64 along slot 58 to permit a minimal over-balance by leg 42, therebyreducing the influence of bail 62 on the tension on strand Y andreducing the wear on said bail.

Upon breaking or exhaustion of strand Y being fed by roller 28, arm 42,no longer supported in its raised position by bail 62, will rockdownwardly by gravitational force due to its over-balance, to becomeengaged in the teeth of gear 12, see FIG. 4, which is rotating in aclockwise direction. As a result, the percussive action of gear 12rotating against resilient arm 42, will cause bell-crank 20 to bepivoted abruptly clockwise, as viewed in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Inconsequence thereof, bell-crank 20 will be pivoted until arm 32 contactsstop bar 19 as shown in FIG. 5. In this position feed roller 28 isprevented from rotating as gear 26 is disengaged from gear 12 and arm 42and hail 62 are maintained in their rest positions as U-shaped bend 52is rocked into contact with arm 22. The foregoing apparatus may bemanually shifted into its operative winding position after the yarnsupply is replenished or a break in the strand is repaired.

Since certain changes may be made in the above apparatus withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention herein involved, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not inthe limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for advancing a winding strand of yarn comprising incombination yarn engaging means including a roller and an associatedspur gear, a rotatable driving gear adapted to engage said spur gear andpositively r0- tate said roller, a pivotally supported arm adapted toshift said yarn engaging means from a first position wherein said spurgear and said driving gear are engaged to a second position wherein saidgears are disengaged, rockable means comprising a bail portion adaptedto engage said Winding strand of yarn when said yarn engaging means isin said first position and a leg portion spaced apart from said drivinggear when said bail is engaged by said winding strand of yarn, said legportion being rockable to engage said driving gear when said bail is notengaged with said winding strand of yarn, and an adjustablecounterweight portion associated with said bail and leg portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS358,257 Dixon et al Feb. 22, 1887 936,346 Nunn Oct. 12, 1909 2,657,451Solliday et al Nov. 3, 1953

